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{{short description |Social networking website}}
{{Commonscat|Myspace}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Cat main|Myspace}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Myspace LLC
| logo = Myspacelogo2013.svg
| logo_size = 240px
| screenshot = Myspace Homepage.PNG
| screenshot_size = 245px
| caption = Screenshot of Myspace in 2017
| website_type = [[Social networking service]]
| company_type = [[Subsidiary]]
| founded = {{Start date and age|2003|8|1}}
| location = USA
| area_served = Worldwide
| founder = {{Plainlist|
* [[Chris DeWolfe]]
* [[Tom Anderson]]
* Jon Hart
}}
| key_people = {{Plainlist|
* Tim Vanderhook {{small|(CEO)}}
* Chris Vanderhook {{small|(COO)}}
* [[Justin Timberlake]]
}}
| revenue =
| owner = Viant Technology LLC
| employees = 150<ref>{{cite web |title=Myspace stats |url=https://expandedramblings.com/index.php/myspace-stats-then-now/ |website=expanding ramblings |date=October 6, 2013 |access-date=December 24, 2018}}</ref>
| url = {{URL|https://myspace.com}}
| registration = Required
| language = [[#International|14 languages]]
| launched = {{Start date and age|2003|8|1}}
| current_status = Active
}}


'''Myspace''' (formerly stylized as '''MySpace''') is a [[social networking service]] based in the [[United States]]. Launched on August 1, 2003, the site was the first social network to reach a global audience, and had a significant influence on technology, pop culture and music.<ref>{{cite web|last=Molloy|first=Fran|url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/03/27/2199691.htm|title=Internet connectivity " Science Features (ABC Science)|publisher=Abc.net.au|date=March 27, 2008|access-date=October 19, 2012}}</ref> The site played a critical role in the early growth of companies like [[YouTube]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=MySpace: We'll Crush YouTube|url=https://mashable.com/2006/09/13/myspace-well-crush-youtube/|last=Cashmore|first=Pete|website=Mashable|date=September 13, 2006|language=en|access-date=2020-05-25}}</ref> and created a developer platform that launched the successes of [[Zynga]], [[RockYou]] and [[Photobucket]], among others.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://venturebeat.com/2009/07/24/myspace-is-a-big-gaming-platform-but-it-hopes-to-be-more-of-one/|title=MySpace is a big gaming platform but it hopes to be more of one|publisher=VentureBeat|date=July 24, 2009|access-date=October 19, 2012}}</ref> From 2005 to 2008, Myspace was the largest social networking site in the world.<ref name="ft.com">{{Cite news|title=The rise and fall of MySpace {{!}} Financial Times|url=https://www.ft.com/content/fd9ffd9c-dee5-11de-adff-00144feab49a|newspaper=Financial Times|date=December 4, 2009|access-date=2020-05-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=These are 13 of the most popular social networks a decade ago that have died or faded into obscurity|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/aim-myspace-club-penguin-social-apps-popular-2010-decade-2019-11|publisher=Business Insider|date=December 23, 2019|access-date=2022-10-15}}</ref>
In July 2005, Myspace was acquired by [[News Corporation (1980–2013)|News Corporation]] for $580 million,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newscorp.com/news/news_251.html|title=News Corporation|publisher=Newscorp.com|access-date=October 23, 2011|archive-date=January 13, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130113204630/http://www.newscorp.com/news/news_251.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and in June 2006, it surpassed [[Yahoo!]] and [[Google]] to become the most visited website in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/googles-antisocial-downside/|title=Google's antisocial downside|publisher=CNET News|access-date=June 11, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Pete Cashmore|url=http://mashable.com/2006/07/11/myspace-americas-number-one/|title=MySpace, America's Number One|publisher=Mashable.com|date=July 11, 2006|access-date=July 24, 2010}}</ref> It generated $800 million in revenue during the 2008 fiscal year.<ref>{{cite web|last=Dignan|first=Larry|url=https://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/fox-interactive-turns-annual-profit-myspace-revenue-to-top-800-million-in-fiscal-2008/5899|title=Fox Interactive turns annual profit; MySpace revenue to top $800 million in fiscal 2008|publisher=ZDNet|date=August 8, 2007|access-date=October 19, 2012}}</ref> At its peak in April 2008, Myspace and [[Facebook]] reached 115 million unique users, but Myspace narrowly lost to the newly emerging Facebook in terms of global users.<ref name="lifewire">[https://www.lifewire.com/is-myspace-dead-3486012 Is Myspace Dead?], ''Lifewire</ref> In May 2009, Facebook surpassed Myspace in its number of unique U.S. visitors.<ref name="Albanesius">{{cite news|last=Albanesius|first=Chloe|url=https://www.pcmag.com/archive/more-americans-go-to-facebook-than-myspace-241432|title=More Americans Go To Facebook Than MySpace|publisher=PCMag.com|date=June 16, 2009|access-date=June 11, 2020}}</ref> Since then, the number of Myspace users has declined steadily despite several redesigns.<ref name="bw-20110622" /> By 2019, the site's monthly visitors had dropped to seven million.<ref name="lifewire"/>
In June 2009, Myspace employed approximately 1,600 employees.<ref name="online.wsj.com">{{cite news|last=Vascellaro|first=Jessica E.|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304584004576415932273770852 |title=News Corp. Selling Myspace to Specific Media|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=June 30, 2011|access-date=October 23, 2011 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2009/06/16/myspace-executes-30-staff-reduction-today/|title=MySpace Executes 30% Staff Reduction Today|publisher=TechCrunch|date=June 16, 2009|access-date=October 23, 2011}}</ref> In June 2011, Specific Media Group and [[Justin Timberlake]] jointly purchased the company for approximately $35 million.<ref>Fixmer, Andy, [http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-06-29/news-corp-calls-quits-on-myspace-with-specific-media-sale.html "News Corp. Calls Quits on Myspace With Specific Media Sale"], ''Business Week'', June 29, 2011</ref> On February 11, 2016, it was announced that Myspace and its parent company had been purchased by [[Time Inc.]] for $87 million.<ref name="variety.com">{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2016/digital/news/time-inc-myspace-viant-1201703860/|title=Time Inc. Buys Myspace Parent Company Viant|first=Todd|last=Spangler|date=February 11, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2016/digital/news/time-inc-myspace-viant-1201703860/|title=Time Inc. Buys Myspace Parent Company Viant|last=Spangler|first=Todd|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=February 11, 2016|access-date=September 30, 2016}}</ref> Time Inc. was in turn purchased by [[Meredith Corporation]] on January 31, 2018.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/19/business/myspace-user-data.html |title=Myspace, Once the King of Social Networks, Lost Years of Data From Its Heyday |first=Niraj |last=Chokshi |date=March 19, 2019 |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 18, 2019|url-access=limited}}</ref> On November 4, 2019, Meredith spun off Myspace and its original holding company (Viant Technology Holding Inc.) and sold it to Viant Technology LLC.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://meredith.mediaroom.com/2019-11-04-Meredith-Corporation-Sells-Equity-Stake-In-Viant-Technology-Holding-Inc|title = Meredith Corporation Sells Equity Stake in Viant Technology Holding Inc}}</ref>
==History==
===2003–2005: Beginnings and rise===
[[File:Foxinteractivemediaheadquarters.jpg|thumb|Fox Interactive Media's former headquarters in [[Beverly Hills, California|Beverly Hills]], California, before 2016, where Myspace was also housed (now home to [[Fandango Media|Fandango]])]]
In August 2003, several [[Intermix Media|eUniverse]] employees with [[Friendster]] accounts saw potential in its social networking features. The group decided to mimic the more popular features of the website. Within 10 days, the first version of MySpace was ready for launch, implemented using [[ColdFusion]].<ref name="bw-20110622">{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-06-22/the-rise-and-inglorious-fall-of-myspace|title=The Rise and Inglorious Fall of Myspace|author=Felix Gillette|date=June 22, 2011|newspaper=Bloomberg Businessweek|access-date=June 23, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202173130/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-06-22/the-rise-and-inglorious-fall-of-myspace|archive-date=2019-12-02}} [http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_27/b4235053917570.htm Alt URL]</ref><ref name="business of spam">{{cite web|last=Lapinski |first=Trent |title=MySpace: The Business of Spam 2.0 (Exhaustive Edition) |url=http://valleywag.com/tech/myspace/myspace-the-business-of-spam-20-exhaustive-edition-199924.php |work=ValleyWag |date=September 11, 2006 |access-date=March 13, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312041913/http://valleywag.com/tech/myspace/myspace-the-business-of-spam-20-exhaustive-edition-199924.php |archive-date=March 12, 2008 }}</ref> A complete infrastructure of finance, human resources, technical expertise, [[Bandwidth (computing)|bandwidth]], and server capacity was available for the site. The project was overseen by [[Brad Greenspan]] (eUniverse's founder, chairman and CEO), who managed [[Chris DeWolfe]] (MySpace's starting CEO), Josh Berman, [[Tom Anderson]] (MySpace's starting president), and a team of programmers and resources provided by eUniverse. It was during this early period in June 2003, just prior to the birth of MySpace, that [[Jeffrey Scott Edell|Jeffrey Edell]] was brought on as chairman of parent company Intermix Media.
The first MySpace users were eUniverse employees. The company held contests to see who could sign up the most users.<ref>{{cite book|last=Percival|first=Sean|title=MySpace Marketing|year=2008|publisher=Que|location=Indianapolis, Ind.|isbn=978-0-7897-3709-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r0OZBiiWBkMC&q=myspace+euniverse+contests&pg=PT49}}</ref> eUniverse used its 20 million users and e-mail subscribers to breathe life into MySpace<ref>{{cite web|url=http://freemyspace.com/N.jpg |title=Welcome to |publisher=Freemyspace.com |access-date=July 24, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100623233215/http://freemyspace.com/N.jpg |archive-date=June 23, 2010 }}</ref> and move it to the head of the pack of social networking websites. A key architect was tech expert Toan Nguyen, who helped stabilize the platform when Greenspan asked him to join the team.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://freemyspace.com/09-03-03-f.jpg |title=Welcome to |publisher=Freemyspace.com |access-date=July 24, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100623233225/http://freemyspace.com/09-03-03-f.jpg |archive-date=June 23, 2010 }}</ref> Co-founder and CTO [[Aber Whitcomb]] played an integral role in software architecture, utilizing the then-superior development speed of ColdFusion over other dynamic database driven server-side languages of the time. Despite having over ten times the number of developers, [[Friendster]], which was developed in [[JavaServer Pages]] (jsp), could not keep up with the speed of development of MySpace and [[ColdFusion Markup Language|cfm]]. For example, users could customize the background, look and feel of pages on MySpace.
[[File:MySpace logo.svg|thumb|left|alt=old logo|MySpace logo used from June 2004 to October 2010]]
The MySpace.com domain was originally owned by YourZ.com, Inc., intended until 2002 for use as an online data storage and sharing site. By late 2003, it was transitioned from a file storage service to a social networking site. A friend who also worked in the data storage business reminded DeWolfe that he had earlier bought the MySpace.com domain.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite news|last=Sellers|first=Patricia|url=http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/09/04/8384727/index.htm|title=money.cnn.com|publisher=CNN|date=August 29, 2006|access-date=July 24, 2010}}</ref> DeWolfe suggested they charge a fee for the basic MySpace service.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://freemyspace.com/I-2.jpg |title=Welcome to |publisher=Freemyspace.com |access-date=July 24, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100623233236/http://freemyspace.com/I-2.jpg |archive-date=June 23, 2010 }}</ref> However, Greenspan nixed the idea, believing that keeping the site free was necessary to make it a successful community.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://freemyspace.com/?q=node%2F13|title=MySpace History|publisher=FreeMySpace|access-date=July 24, 2010|archive-date=July 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722132216/http://www.freemyspace.com/?q=node%2F13|url-status=dead}}</ref> MySpace quickly gained popularity among teenagers and young adults. In February 2005, DeWolfe held talks with [[Mark Zuckerberg]] over acquiring [[Facebook]], but rejected Zuckerberg's offer to sell Facebook to him for $75 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2009/01/24/myspacebook/|title=Stories From The Tell-All MySpace Book|first=Michael|last=Arrington|date=January 25, 2009 }}</ref> Some employees of MySpace, including DeWolfe and Berman, were able to purchase [[Equity (finance)|equity]] in the property before MySpace and its parent company eUniverse (now renamed [[Intermix Media]]) were bought.
===2005–2009: Purchase by News Corp. and peak years===
In July 2005, in one of the company's first major Internet purchases, [[News Corporation (1980–2013)|News Corporation]] purchased MySpace for US$580 million.<ref name="business of spam"/><ref name="BBC 2005">{{cite news|title=News Corp in $580m internet buy|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4695495.stm|work=BBC News|date=July 19, 2005|access-date=March 13, 2008}}</ref> At the time of the acquisition, the company was seeing 16 million monthly users and was growing exponentially.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Siklos|first=Richard|date=2005-07-18|title=News Corp. to Acquire Owner of MySpace.com|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/18/business/news-corp-to-acquire-owner-of-myspacecom.html|access-date=2020-05-25|issn=0362-4331|url-access=limited}}</ref> News Corporation had beat out [[Viacom (2005–present)|Viacom]] by offering a higher price for the website,<ref name="Remember">{{cite news|last=Haden|first=Jeff|url=http://business.time.com/2011/01/12/remember-news-corp-s-brilliant-myspace-buy/|title=MySpace Layoffs Are A Good Reminder how Uncool Rupert Murdock's acquisition of the social media was?|publisher=Business.time.com|date=January 12, 2011|access-date=June 30, 2012}}</ref> and the purchase was seen as a good investment at the time.<ref name="Remember"/> Within a year, MySpace had tripled in value from its purchase price.<ref name="Remember"/> News Corporation saw the purchase as a way to capitalize on Internet advertising and drive traffic to other News Corporation properties.<ref name="BBC 2005"/>
[[File:Rupert Murdoch Wendi Deng2.jpg|thumb|left|[[Oxfam America]] president Raymond C. Offenheiser, [[Wendi Deng]] and [[Rupert Murdoch]] with MySpace co-founders Anderson and DeWolfe at the 2006 [[Oxfam]]/MySpace Rock for Darfur event]]
After the acquisition, MySpace continued its exponential growth. In January 2006, the site was signing up 200,000 new users a day. A year later, it was registering 320,000 users a day, and had overtaken [[Yahoo!]] to become the most visited website in the United States. ComScore said that a key driver of the site's success in the US was high "engagement levels", with the average MySpace user viewing over 660 pages a month.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite news|title=MySpace clicks to Canada and Mexico|url=https://www.ft.com/content/c95d9e72-aef0-11db-a446-0000779e2340|date=2007-01-28|newspaper=Financial Times|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-05-25}}</ref>
In January 2006, Fox announced plans to launch a UK version of MySpace.<ref>{{cite news|work=BBC News|date=January 24, 2006|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4642622.stm|title=MySpace looks to UK music scene|access-date=January 24, 2006|first=Rowan|last=Bridge}}</ref> During 2006, MySpace launched localized versions in 11 countries across Europe, Asia and the Americas, including MySpace China with Solstice.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://medium.com/triton-business-review/tiktok-and-the-future-of-us-china-relations-78284ab95b29 | title=TikTok and the Future of US-China Relations | date=August 30, 2020 }}</ref> At the time, [[Travis Katz]], senior vice-president for international operations, reported that 30 million of the site's 90 million users were coming from outside of the United States.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
The 100 millionth MySpace account was created on August 9, 2006, in the Netherlands.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://seekingalpha.com/article/15237-rupert-murdoch-comments-on-fox-interactives-growth|title=Rupert Murdoch Comments on Fox Interactive's Growth|last=Murdoch|first=Rupert|date=August 9, 2006|access-date=September 12, 2006|publisher=SeekingAlpha}}</ref> That same month, MySpace signed a landmark advertising deal with [[Google]] that guaranteed MySpace $900 million over three years, over 55% more than the price News Corporation had paid to acquire the business. In exchange, Google received exclusive rights to provide Web search results and sponsored links on MySpace. When the deal was signed, Google chairman Eric Schmidt said, "When we looked at what was growing on the Web, all our internal metrics pointed to [MySpace] [...] It's important to move Google to where users are, and that is where user-generated content is."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Google pledges $900 million for MySpace honors|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/google-pledges-900-million-for-myspace-honors/|last=Olsen|first=Stefanie|website=CNET|language=en|access-date=2020-05-25}}</ref>
By October 2006, MySpace had grown from generating $1 million in revenue per month to $30 million per month, half of which came from the Google deal. The remaining 50% came from display advertising sold by MySpace's in-house sales team.<ref name="ft.com"/> In November 2006, Myspace announced a 50-50 joint venture with [[SoftBank Group|Softbank]] to launch the site in Japan.<ref>{{Cite news|first1=Julia |last1=Angwin |author1-link=Julia Angwin |first2=Jay |last2=Alabaster|date=2006-11-08|title=MySpace Adds a Friend in Japan|language=en-US|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB116290234314615478|access-date=2020-05-25|issn=0099-9660|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|title=MySpace Enters Japan|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/1348071/myspace-enters-japan|date=2006-11-07|magazine=Billboard|access-date=2020-05-25}}</ref>
In mid-2007, MySpace was the largest social-networking site in every European country where it had created a local presence. By July 2007, Nielsen//NetRatings reported the company's "active reach", or the percentage of the population that visited the site, was anywhere from 10 to 15 times higher in Spain, France and Germany than for runner-up Facebook; in the United Kingdom, MySpace led Facebook by two-to-one in terms of reach.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Social Networking in Europe: How MySpace Conquered the Continent - DER SPIEGEL - International|url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/business/social-networking-in-europe-how-myspace-conquered-the-continent-a-493755.html|last=SPIEGEL|first=Mark Scott, DER|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=July 11, 2007|language=en|access-date=2020-05-25}}</ref>
On November 1, 2007, MySpace and [[Bebo]] joined the Google-led [[OpenSocial|OpenSocial alliance]], which already included Friendster, [[Hi5]], [[LinkedIn]], [[Plaxo]], [[Ning (website)|Ning]], and [[SixApart|Six Apart]]. The alliance's goal was to promote a common set of standards for software developers to write programs for social networks. Google had been unsuccessful in building its own social networking site [[Orkut]] in the American market, and was using the alliance to present a counterweight to Facebook.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/02/technology/02google.html|work=The New York Times|first1=Miguel|last1=Helft|first2=Brad|last2=Stone|title=MySpace Joins Google Alliance to Counter Facebook|date=November 2, 2007|url-access=limited}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article2793615.ece |location=London |work=The Times |first=Jonathan |last=Richards |title=MySpace and Bebo join Googles lovein |date=November 2, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429135658/http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article2793615.ece |archive-date=April 29, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/7564413/Did-AOL-squander-its-chances-with-Bebo.html# |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/7564413/Did-AOL-squander-its-chances-with-Bebo.html# |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |location=London|work=The Daily Telegraph|first=Emma|last=Barnett|title=Did AOL squander its chances with Bebo?|date=April 8, 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/building-facebook-killer-no-easy-task-google-787|title=Update: Building a Facebook killer no easy task for Google &#124; Cloud Computing|publisher=InfoWorld|date=June 30, 2010|access-date=October 23, 2011}}</ref>
By late 2007 and into 2008, MySpace was considered the leading social networking site, and consistently beat out its main competitor Facebook in traffic. Initially, the emergence of Facebook did little to diminish MySpace's popularity; at the time, Facebook was targeted only at college students.
At its peak, when News Corporation attempted to merge it with Yahoo! in 2007, Myspace was valued at $12 billion.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/myspace/8404510/MySpace-loses-10-million-users-in-a-month.html|location=London|work=The Daily Telegraph|first=Emma|last=Barnett|title=MySpace loses 10 million users in a month|date=March 24, 2011}}</ref><ref name="Steel">{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703576204576226620748953038 |work=The Wall Street Journal|first=Emily|last=Steel|title=Advertisers Wary of Myspace|date=March 28, 2011|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
===2009–2016: Decline and sale by News Corporation===
On April 19, 2008, Facebook overtook MySpace in [[Alexa Internet|Alexa]] rankings.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2008/06/12/facebook-no-longer-the-second-largest-social-network/|publisher=TechCrunch|title=Facebook No Longer The Second Largest Social Network |date=June 12, 2008|access-date=March 12, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.youngacademic.co.uk/features/the-death-of-myspace-young-academic-columns-953|title=The Death of MySpace|publisher=Young Academic|date=March 31, 2011|access-date=October 23, 2011}}</ref> In May 2009, Facebook surpassed MySpace in the number of unique U.S. visitors.<ref name="Albanesius"/> Since then, Myspace has seen a continuing loss of membership. There are several suggested explanations for its decline, including the fact that it stuck to a "portal strategy" of building an audience around entertainment and music, whereas Facebook and [[Twitter]] continually added new features to improve the social networking experience.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/17/business/fi-ct-myspace17|work=Los Angeles Times|first1=Dawn C.|last1=Chmielewski|first2=David|last2=Sarno|date=June 17, 2009|title=How MySpace fell off the pace|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/7564413/Did-AOL-squander-its-chances-with-Bebo.html|location=London|work=The Daily Telegraph|first=Emma|last=Barnett|title=Did AOL squander its chances with Bebo?|date=April 8, 2010}}</ref>
A former MySpace executive suggested that the $900 million three-year advertisement deal with Google,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Olsen|first=Stefanie|title=Google pledges $900 million for MySpace honors|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-pledges-900-million-for-myspace-honors/|access-date=2020-11-18|website=ZDNet|language=en}}</ref> while being a short-term cash windfall, was a handicap in the long run, as it required MySpace to place even more ads on its already heavily advertised space, which made the site slow, more difficult to use and less flexible. MySpace could not experiment with its own site without forfeiting revenue, while Facebook was rolling out a new, clean site design.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telecomtv.com/comspace_newsDetail.aspx?n=47741&id=e9381817-0593-417a-8639-c4c53e2a2a10|title=Only one bidder for MySpace – and he might walk|publisher=TelecomTV|date=June 13, 2011|access-date=October 23, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111203053549/http://www.telecomtv.com/comspace_newsDetail.aspx?n=47741&id=e9381817-0593-417a-8639-c4c53e2a2a10|archive-date=December 3, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://gigaom.com/2011/04/08/was-it-google-who-killed-myspace/|title=Was It Google That Killed MySpace? – Tech News and Analysis|date=April 8, 2011|publisher=gigaom.com}}</ref> MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe reported that he had to push back against Fox Interactive Media's sales team, who [[monetize]]d the site without regard to user experience.<ref name="bw-20110622"/> In 2012, Katz described how News Corporation had put significant pressure on MySpace to "focus on near-term monetization, as opposed to thinking about long-term product strategy," while Facebook focused user engagement over revenue.<ref>{{Citation|title=MySpace Exec and Trip.com Founder Travis Katz talks Facebook IPO Fox Business|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX_s-MMcQBE| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/TX_s-MMcQBE| archive-date=2021-10-28|language=en|access-date=2020-05-28}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
[[Danah Boyd]], a senior researcher at [[Microsoft Research]], noted of social networking websites that "companies might serially rise, fall, and disappear, as influential peers pull others in on the climb up—and signal to flee when it's time to get out." The volatility of social networks was exemplified in 2006, when Connecticut Attorney General [[Richard Blumenthal]] launched an investigation into children's exposure to pornography on MySpace. The resulting media frenzy and the site's lack of an effective spam filter gave the site a reputation as a "vortex of perversion". Around that time, specialized social media companies such as Twitter formed and began targeting users on MySpace, while Facebook rolled out communication tools that were seen as safe in comparison to MySpace. In addition, MySpace had particular problems with vandalism, phishing, malware, and spam, which it failed to curtail, making the site seem inhospitable.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gehl|first=Robert W.|title=Real (Software) Abstractions: On the Rise of Facebook and the Fall of Myspace|journal=Social Text|year=2012|volume=30|issue=2 111|doi=10.1215/01642472-1541772|url=http://socialtext.dukejournals.org/content/30/2_111/99.full.pdf|access-date=June 27, 2013|doi-access=free}}</ref>
These have been cited as factors why users, who as teenagers were MySpace's strongest audience in 2006 and 2007,<ref name="pcworld.com">{{cite web|last=Newman|first=Jared|url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/234806/myspace_4_lessons_learned_from_the_collapse.html|title=MySpace: 4 Lessons Learned from the Collapse|publisher=PCWorld|date=June 30, 2011|access-date=October 23, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-01-08-myspace-teens_x.htm|work=USA Today|first1=Janet|last1=Kornblum|title=MySpace is the place|date=January 9, 2006}}</ref> had been migrating to Facebook, which started strongly with the 18-to-24 group (mostly college students)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jun/26/usa.news?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487|location=London|work=The Guardian|first=Bobbie|last=Johnson|title=World news, US news, Technology, Digital media, Media, Facebook, Myspace, Research + Development (Technology), Social networking|date=June 26, 2007}}</ref> and has been much more successful than MySpace at attracting older users.<ref>{{cite web|last=Jesdanun|first=Anick|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/19717700|title=MySpace popularity with teens fizzles|publisher=NBC News|date=November 7, 2007|access-date=October 23, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Andrews|first=Robert|url=http://paidcontent.co.uk/article/419-myspace-bebo-audience-shrinking-as-facebook-surges-ahead/|title=MySpace, Bebo Audience Shrinking As Facebook Surges Ahead|publisher=paidContent|date=April 8, 2009|access-date=October 23, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsfactor.com/news/Facebook-Traffic-More-Than-Doubles/story.xhtml?story_id=10000BCLMR0W&full_skip=1|title=Facebook Traffic More Than Doubles in One Year|publisher=Newsfactor.com|date=March 16, 2009|access-date=October 23, 2011}}</ref>
News Corporation chairman and CEO [[Rupert Murdoch]] was said to be frustrated that MySpace never met expectations as a distribution outlet for Fox studio content and missed the US$1 billion mark in total revenues.<ref>{{cite web|last=Grover|first=Ronald|url=http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2009/tc20090427_826659.htm|title=Murdoch Tightens His Grip on MySpace|work=BusinessWeek|date=April 27, 2009|access-date=October 23, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111013165021/http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2009/tc20090427_826659.htm|archive-date=13 October 2011}}</ref> This resulted in DeWolfe and Anderson gradually losing their status within Murdoch's inner circle of executives, as well as DeWolfe's mentor [[Peter Chernin]], president and COO of News Corporation, departing the company in June 2009. Former [[AOL]] executive Jonathan Miller, who joined News Corporation in charge of the digital media business, was in the job for three weeks when he shuffled MySpace's executive team in April 2009. MySpace president Tom Anderson stepped down while Chris DeWolfe was replaced as CEO by former Facebook COO [[Owen Van Natta]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.fortune.com/2009/04/23/magazines/fortune/tech/myspace-dewolfe-miller.fortune/index.htm|publisher=CNN|first=Jessi|last=Hempel|title=MySpace shakeup: News Corp.'s morning-after plan|date=April 23, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/22/AR2009042203524.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Joseph|last=Tartakoff|title=paidContent.org – It's Official: Chris DeWolfe To Exit As MySpace CEO; Tom Anderson Out As President|date=April 23, 2009}}</ref> A meeting at News Corporation over the direction of MySpace in March 2009 was reportedly the catalyst for that management shakeup, with the Google search deal about to expire and the departure of key personnel (Myspace's COO, SVP of engineering, and SVP of strategy) to form a startup. Furthermore, the opening of extravagant new offices around the world was questioned, as Facebook did not have similarly expensive expansion plans but still attracted international users at a rapid rate.<ref name="bw-20110622" /> The changes to MySpace's executive ranks were followed in June 2009 by a layoff of 37.5% of its workforce (including 30% of its U.S. employees), reducing employees from 1,600 to 1,000.<ref name="bw-20110622" />
In 2009, MySpace implemented site redesigns as a way to get users back. However, this may have backfired, as users generally disliked tweaks and changes on Facebook.<ref name="pcworld.com" /><ref>''[[The Economist]]''. June 20–26 U.S. print edition. Page 8.</ref>
In March 2011, market research figures released by [[Comscore]] suggested that Myspace had lost 10 million users between January and February 2011, and had fallen from 95 million to 63 million unique users in the previous 12 months.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/myspace/8404510/MySpace-loses-10-million-users-in-a-month.html|work=Daily Telegraph|location=UK|title=MySpace loses 10 million users in a month|date=March 24, 2011|access-date=March 26, 2011|first=Emma|last=Barnett}}</ref> Myspace registered its sharpest audience declines in February 2011, as traffic fell 44% from a year earlier to 37.7 million U.S. visitors. Advertisers were reported as unwilling to commit to long-term deals with the site.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703576204576226620748953038 |title=Advertisers Wary of Myspace |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=April 1, 2011 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
In late February 2011, News Corporation officially put the site up for sale for an estimated $50–200 million.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-54673520110205|work=Reuters|title=News Corp taps Allen & Co for MySpace interest|date=February 5, 2011}}</ref> Losses from the last quarter of 2010 were $156 million, over double the previous year, which dragged down the otherwise strong results of News Corporation.<ref name="online.wsj.com"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703530504576164830897334082 |work=The Wall Street Journal|first1=Jessica E.|last1=Vascellaro|first2=Russell|last2=Adams|title=Myspace Opens Books to Prospective Buyers|date=February 25, 2011|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The deadline for bids, May 31, 2011, passed without any above the reserve price of $100 million being submitted.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://allthingsd.com/20110531/the-myspace-sweepstakes-drag-on-another-bid-deadline-today-as-sale-deadline-looms/|work=All Things D|first1=Kara|last1=Swisher|title=The Myspace Sweepstakes Drag on–Another Bid Deadline Today As Sale Deadline Looms|date=June 3, 2011}}</ref> It has been said that the decline in users during the most recent quarter deterred several potential suitors.<ref name="online.wsj.com"/>
On June 29, 2011, Myspace announced in an email to label partners and press that it had been acquired by Specific Media for an undisclosed sum, which was rumored to be as low as $35 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20110629006943/en|title=Specific Media Acquires Myspace|publisher=Eon.businesswire.com|date=June 29, 2011|access-date=October 23, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902034704/http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20110629006943/en|archive-date=September 2, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13969338|work=BBC News|title=MySpace sold to Specific Media by Murdoch's News Corp|date=June 29, 2011}}</ref> [[CNN]] reported that the site sold for $35 million, and noted that it was "far less than the $580 million News Corp. paid for Myspace in 2005."<ref>{{cite news|author=[[Laurie Segall]]|url=https://money.cnn.com/2011/06/29/technology/myspace_layoffs/index.htm?hpt=te_bn2|title=News Corp. sells Myspace to Specific Media|publisher=CNN|date=June 29, 2011|access-date=June 29, 2011}}</ref> Murdoch went on to call the Myspace purchase a "huge mistake",<ref name="huge mistake">{{cite news|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/10/news-corps-murdoch-calls-myspace-a-huge-mistake.html|title=News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch calls Myspace buy a 'huge mistake' |publisher=Latimesblogs.latimes.com|date=October 21, 2011|access-date=June 30, 2012}}</ref> and ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine compared it to [[Time Warner]]'s 2000 purchase of [[AOL]], which saw a conglomerate trying to stay ahead of the competition.<ref name="Remember" /> Many former executives have gone on to further success after departing Myspace.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://allthingsd.com/20110613/is-there-a-myspace-mafia-too-because-leaving-it-seems-to-have-paid-off-for-many-ex-execs/?mod=googlenews|title=Myspace Might Be a Failure, But Its Ex-Execs Are Not – Kara Swisher – Social|publisher=AllThingsD|date=June 13, 2011|access-date=October 23, 2011}}</ref>
===2016–present: Time Inc. and Meredith Corporation ownership===
On February 11, 2016, it was announced that Myspace and its parent company had been bought by [[Time Inc.]];<ref name="variety.com"/> On January 31, 2018, Time Inc. was in turn purchased by [[Meredith Corporation]],<ref name=":0" /> who went on to sell a number of Time Inc.'s assets, including (as it announced on November 4, 2019)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://s21.q4cdn.com/842953260/files/doc_news/Meredith-Corporation-Sells-Equity-Stake-In-Viant-Technology-Holding-Inc-2019.pdf|title=Meredith Corporation Sells Equity Stake In Viant Technology Holding Inc|date=Nov 4, 2019|access-date=Jan 12, 2021}}</ref> selling its equity in [[Viant Technology|Viant]], the parent company of Specific Media, back to Viant Technology Holding Inc.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/52736-05|title=Specific Media UK|access-date=Jan 12, 2021}}</ref>
In May 2016, the data for almost 360 million Myspace accounts was offered on the "Real Deal" dark market website, which included email addresses, usernames and weakly encrypted passwords ([[SHA1]] hashes of the first 10 characters of the password converted to lowercase and stored without a cryptographic [[Salt (cryptography)|salt]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://haveibeenpwned.com|title=Have I been pwned? Check if your email has been compromised in a data breach}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://motherboard.vice.com/read/427-million-myspace-passwords-emails-data-breach|title=Hacker Tries To Sell 427 Million {{sic|hide=y|reason=typo in source, so it should not be "fixed"}} Stolen MySpace Passwords For $2,800 - Motherboard}}</ref> The exact [[data breach]] date is unknown, but analysis of the data suggests it was exposed around eight years before being made public, around mid-2008 to early 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.troyhunt.com/dating-the-ginormous-myspace-breach/|title=Dating the ginormous MySpace breach|date=May 31, 2016}}</ref>
==Features==
Since [[YouTube]]'s founding in 2005, Myspace users had the ability to embed YouTube videos in their profiles. Realizing the competitive threat to its new Myspace Videos service, the site banned embedded YouTube videos from its user profiles, which was widely protested by Myspace users, prompting the site to lift it shortly thereafter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20060110/0735214.shtml|title=So That's Why Myspace Blocked YouTube|access-date=July 28, 2006|first=Carlo|last=Longino|date=January 10, 2006|publisher=Techdirt.com}}</ref>
There were a variety of environments in which users could access Myspace content on their mobile phones. In early 2006, mobile phone provider [[Helio (wireless carrier)|Helio]] released a series of mobile phones utilizing a service known as Myspace Mobile to access and edit one's profile and communicate with and view the profiles of other members.<ref name="moconews-MySpaceHelios">{{cite web|url=http://www.moconews.net/?p=5176|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901003014/http://www.moconews.net/?p=5176|archive-date=September 1, 2006|title=Myspace Mobile To Debut On Helio; Details on Handsets|publisher=Dis*Content Media LLC|date=February 16, 2006|access-date=September 8, 2006}}</ref> Additionally, UIEvolution and Myspace developed a mobile version of Myspace for a wider range of carriers, including [[AT&T Mobility|AT&T]], [[Vodafone]]<ref name="MySpaceVodaphone">{{cite web|url=http://live.marketclusters.com/cl2/view/2007/02/07/myspace_partners_with_vodafone/ |title=Myspace partners with Vodafone |publisher=StrategyWire |access-date=February 8, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070301065454/http://live.marketclusters.com/cl2/view/2007/02/07/myspace_partners_with_vodafone/ |archive-date=March 1, 2007}}</ref> and [[Rogers Wireless]].<ref name="MySpaceRogers">{{cite web|url=http://www.moconews.net/entry/419-myspace-launches-mobile-site-in-canada-with-rogers-wireless/|title=Myspace Launches Mobile Site In Canada With Rogers Wireless; Charges Fee|publisher=MocoNews|access-date=August 16, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070904123251/http://www.moconews.net/entry/419-myspace-launches-mobile-site-in-canada-with-rogers-wireless|archive-date=September 4, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> In August 2006, Myspace began offering classified ads, which grew by 33 percent during the following year.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071110232402/http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20070904%2FBUSINESS%2F709040311%2F1003 Classified ads undergoing metamorphosis], ''delawareonline'' (November 10, 2007).</ref> It previously had an instant messaging tool called [[MySpace IM]]. Myspace used an implementation of [[Telligent Community]] for its forum system.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://communityserver.com/showcases/marketing/myspace/|title=Community Server in Action|access-date=October 9, 2015|author=MySpace|year=2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090120014120/http://communityserver.com/showcases/marketing/myspace/ |archive-date=January 20, 2009}}</ref>
===Music===
{{press release section|date=December 2017}}
Shortly after Myspace was sold to News Corporation in 2005, the website launched their own record label [[MySpace Records]], with JD Mangosing as CEO, in an effort to discover unknown talent on Myspace Music,<ref name="autogenerated2"/> a service onto which artists can upload songs, EPs and full-length albums. As of June 2014, over 53 million songs have been uploaded to the site by 14.2 million artists.<ref name="the register">{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/02/myspace_we_still_have_all_your_humiliating_photos_so_hows_about_reconnecting/|title=Myspace: Where are you going? We still have all your HUMILIATING PICS|last=Nichols|first=Shaun|website=The Register|date=June 2, 2014|access-date=July 13, 2018}}</ref> Artists such as [[The Summer Obsession]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailynebraskan.com/myspace-helps-propel-bands-into-success/article_8cfebacd-c5a1-55a9-946b-6a1fa3e37c6f.html|title=Myspace Helps Bands Propel Into Success|publisher=The Daily Nebraskan|author=Nancy Pettito|date=January 12, 2006|access-date=October 16, 2018}}</ref> [[Nicki Minaj]], [[Lily Allen]], [[Owl City]], [[Taylor Swift]], [[Hey Monday]], [[The Bigger Lights]], [[Danger Radio]], [[Hollywood Undead]], [[Waka Flocka Flame]], [[Just Surrender]], [[Cute Is What We Aim For]], [[Every Avenue]], [[Lady Gaga]], [[The Downtown Fiction]], [[Jamestown Story]],  [[Stereo Skyline]], [[The Friday Night Boys]], [[Mayday Parade]], [[We Are The In Crowd]], [[All Time Low]], [[Meg & Dia]], [[Nevershoutnever]], [[The Ready Set]], [[Forever The Sickest Kids]], [[Anarbor]], [[The Maine]], [[My Favorite Highway]], [[Sean Kingston]], [[Farewell (band)|Farewell]], [[The Audition (band)|The Audition]], [[Arctic Monkeys]], [[Copeland (band)|Copeland]], [[Paramore]], [[Katy Perry]], [[Colbie Caillat]], [[The Cab]], [[Tyga]], [[3OH!3]], [[Secondhand Serenade]], [[Lil Durk]], [[Ice Nine Kills]], [[Bring Me the Horizon]], and [[Drop Dead, Gorgeous]] gained fame and recognition through Myspace. Over eight million artists have been discovered through the site.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://techradar1.wordpress.com/2008/01/11/facebookmyspace-statistics/|title=Facebook, Myspace Statistics|publisher=techradar1.wordpress.com|author=Siwal|date=January 11, 2008|access-date=October 17, 2010}}</ref> In late 2007, the site launched The MySpace Transmissions'', a series of live-in-studio recordings by well-known artists.
On March 18, 2019, it was revealed that Myspace had lost all of its user content from 2015 and earlier in botched server migration with no backup, meaning that over 50 million songs and 12 years' worth of content were permanently lost.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/03/myspace-apparently-lost-12-years-worth-of-music-and-almost-no-one-noticed/|title=Myspace apparently lost 12 years' worth of music, and almost no one noticed|last=Brodkin|first=Jon|date=2019-03-18|website=Ars Technica|language=en-us|access-date=2019-03-20}}</ref> In April 2019, the [[Internet Archive]] recovered 490,000 MP3s (1.3 terabytes) "using unknown means by an anonymous academic study conducted between 2008 and 2010". The songs, which were uploaded between 2008 and 2010, are collectively known as the "MySpace Dragon Hoard".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mashable.com/article/myspace-internet-archive-rescue/|title=Internet Archive rescues half a million lost MySpace songs|last=Schroeder|first=Stan|website=Mashable|date=April 4, 2019|language=en|access-date=2019-07-17}}</ref>
===MySpaceTV===
{{Further|List of original programs distributed by MySpaceTV}}On May 16, 2007, Myspace partnered with news publications National Geographic, the New York Times and Reuters to provide professional visual contents on its social-networking Web site.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://labusinessjournal.com/news/2007/may/16/myspace-adding-national-news-content/|title=MySpace Adding National News Content {{!}} Los Angeles Business Journal|website=labusinessjournal.com|date=May 15, 2007 |access-date=2019-10-09}}</ref>
On June 27, 2007, Myspace launched MySpaceTV.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://searchengineland.com/myspace-tv-to-compete-with-googles-youtube-11567|title=MySpace TV To Compete With Google's YouTube|date=2007-06-27|website=Search Engine Land|access-date=2019-10-09}}</ref>
On August 8, 2007, Myspace partnered with satire publication ''[[The Onion]]'' to provide audio, video and print content to the site.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/the-onion-brings-its-irreverent-satire-to-myspace/|title=The Onion brings its irreverent satire to MySpace|last=McCarthy|first=Caroline|website=CNET|language=en|access-date=2019-10-09}}</ref>
On October 22, 2007, Myspace launched its first original web series ''[[Roommates (web series)|Roommates]]'', which intended to give its users a television-like experience with the interactive benefits of the Internet.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myspacetv-idUSN1937381320071022|title=MySpaceTV unveils first original drama|date=2007-10-22|work=Reuters|access-date=2019-10-08|language=en}}</ref>
On February 27, 2008, [[TMZ]] launched its web channel on MySpaceTV.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-media-tmz-idUSN273028520080227|title=MySpace and TMZ launch Web channel|date=2008-02-27|work=Reuters|access-date=2019-10-09|language=en}}</ref>
On April 21, 2008, Myspace signed a deal with [[Byron Allen]]'s [[Entertainment Studios]] that brought programming such as the syndicated series ''[[Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen]]'', ''[[Entertainers with Byron Allen]]'', ''Beautiful Homes and Great Estates'', and ''Designer Fashions & Runways'' to MySpaceTV.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/myspace-inks-deal-entertainment-studios-109867|title=MySpace inks deal with Entertainment Studios|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=April 21, 2008|language=en|access-date=2019-10-09}}</ref>
===Redesigns===
On March 10, 2010, Myspace added new features including a recommendation engine for new users that suggests games, music and videos based on their previous search habits. The security on Myspace was also accounted to, with the [[criticism of Facebook]], to make it a safer site. The security of Myspace enables users to choose if the content could be viewed for "friends only", "18 and older" or "everyone".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/digital/2010/03/site-myspace-users-revamp|title=MySpace adds new tools after revamp|date=March 11, 2010|work=New Statesman|location=UK|access-date=March 11, 2010}}</ref>
In October 2010, Myspace introduced a beta version of a new site design on a limited scale, with plans to switch all interested users to the new site in late November. Chief executive Mike Jones said the site was no longer competing with Facebook as a general social networking site; instead, it would be music-oriented and would target younger people. Jones believed most younger users would continue to use the site after the redesign, though older users might not. The goal of the redesign was to increase the number of Myspace users and how long they spend there. BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield said, "Most investors have written off MySpace now," and was unsure whether the changes would help the company recover.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69Q11M20101027|title=MySpace launching new version of website|last=Oreskovic|first=Alexei|work=Reuters|date=October 27, 2010|access-date=October 31, 2010}}</ref>
In November 2010, Myspace changed its logo to coincide with the new site design. The word "my" appears in the [[Helvetica]] font, followed by a symbol representing a space. The logo change was announced on October 8, 2010, and appeared on the site on November 11.<ref>Alexia Tsotsis, [https://techcrunch.com/2010/10/08/new-myspace-logo/ Myspace Unveils New, Artsy Logo], Techcrunch.com, October 8, 2010. Retrieved October 12, 2010.</ref> In the same month, Myspace integrated with [[Facebook Connect]] – calling it "Mash Up with Facebook" in an announcement widely seen as the final act of acknowledging Facebook's domination of the social networking industry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2010/11/18/you-can-now-login-to-myspace-with-facebook/|title=You can now login to Myspace with Facebook|publisher=mashable.com|date=November 18, 2010}}</ref>
In January 2011, it was announced that the Myspace staff would be reduced by 47%.<ref>{{cite web|author=Radhika Marya|url=http://mashable.com/2011/01/11/myspace-reduces-staff-by-47-percent/|title=MySpace Reduces Staff by 47%|publisher=Mashable.com|date=January 11, 2011|access-date=January 15, 2011}}</ref> Despite the new design, user adoption continued to decrease.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newser.com/story/108947/myspace-to-ax-up-to-half-its-workers.html|title=MySpace to Ax Up to Half Its Workers – Downsizing could be announced this month, sources say|publisher=Newser.com|date=January 4, 2011|access-date=January 15, 2011}}</ref>
In September 2012, a new redesign was announced (but no date given), making Myspace more visual and apparently optimized for tablets.<ref>{{cite web|author=Loz Blain|url=http://www.gizmag.com/2012-myspace-the-new-facebook/24272/|title=The new Facebook is...Myspace?|publisher=gizmag.com|date=September 25, 2012|access-date=September 25, 2012}}</ref> By April 2013 (presumably before), users were able to transfer to the new Myspace redesign.
In June 2013, a redesign resulted in users losing access to all of their previous blog material. Users who lost access to their contributions and historians lamented this sudden and unannounced deletion of access.<ref>Milligan, Ian. [http://activehistory.ca/2013/06/myspace-is-cool-again-too-bad-they-destroyed-history-along-the-way/ In a Rush to Modernize, MySpace Destroyed More History.] Archive History, June 17, 2013.</ref><ref>Gebelhoff, Robert. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/05/08/facebook-is-becoming-vast-digital-graveyard-gift-future/ Facebook is becoming a vast digital graveyard — and a gift to the future.] ''Washington Post'', May 8, 2019.</ref>
==Key executives==
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Name
!Role
!Years
|-
|Chris DeWolfe
|Co-Founder, CEO
|2003–2009
|-
|Tom Anderson
|Co-Founder, President
|2003–2009
|-
|Aber Whitcomb
|CTO
|2003–2009
|-
|Josh Berman
|COO
|2003–2008
|-
|Travis Katz
|SVP, Head of International
|2005–2009
|-
|Amit Kapur
|COO
VP, Business Development
|2008–2009
2006–2009
|-
|Jamie Kantrowitz
|SVP, International Marketing
|2004–2009
|-
|Shawn Gold
|SVP, Marketing
|2006–2007
|-
|Jeff Berman
|President, Sales & Marketing
VP Communications & Policy
|2007–2009
2006–2007
|-
|Dani Dudeck
|VP Communications
|2006–2010
|-
|Steve Pearman
|SVP, Strategy
|2005–2009
|-
|Tom Andrus
|SVP Product
|2007–2009
|}
==Corporate information==
===Foreign versions{{anchor|International}}===
Since early 2006, Myspace has offered the option to access the service in different regional versions. The alternative regional versions present automated content according to locality (e.g., UK users see other UK users as "Cool New People," and UK-oriented events and adverts, etc.), offer local languages other than English, or accommodate the regional differences in spelling and conventions in the English-speaking world (e.g., United States: "favorites," mm/dd/yyyy; the rest of the world: "favourites," dd/mm/yyyy).
===MySpace Developer Platform (MDP)===
On February 5, 2008, MySpace set up a developer platform allowing developers to share their ideas and write their own Myspace applications. The opening was inaugurated with a workshop at the MySpace offices in San Francisco two weeks before the official launch. The MDP is based on the OpenSocial API, which was presented by Google in November 2007 to support social networks to develop social and interacting widgets, and can be seen as an answer to Facebook's developer platform. The first public beta of the MySpace Apps was released on March 5, 2008, with around 1,000 applications available.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://developer.myspace.com/Community/blogs/devteam/archive/2008/02/05/let-me-see-my-app.aspx|title=Let me see my app!|work=MySpace MDP|date=February 5, 2008|access-date=February 5, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209102606/http://developer.myspace.com/Community/blogs/devteam/archive/2008/02/05/let-me-see-my-app.aspx|archive-date=February 9, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.all4myspace.com/news/2008/1 |title=MySpace Open to Developers |work=MySpace News |date=February 5, 2008 |access-date=February 5, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080114035153/http://www.all4myspace.com/news/2008/1 |archive-date=January 14, 2008 }}</ref>
===Myspace server infrastructure===
At QCon London 2008,<ref name="qcon-arch-pres">{{cite web|url=http://www.infoq.com/presentations/MySpace-Dan-Farino|title=Behind the Scenes at MySpace.com|date=February 10, 2009|publisher=InfoQ.com|access-date=December 12, 2009}}</ref> MySpace Chief Systems Architect Dan Farino indicated that the site was sending 100 gigabits of data per second out to the Internet; 10 gigabits of which was [[HTML]] content and the remainder was media such as videos and pictures. The server infrastructure consists of over 4,500 web servers (running [[Windows Server 2003]], [[Internet Information Services|IIS]] 6.0, [[ASP.NET]] and [[.NET Framework]] 3.5), over 1,200 cache servers (running 64-bit Windows Server 2003), and over 500 database servers (running 64-bit Windows Server 2003 and SQL Server 2005), as well as a custom distributed file system which runs on [[Gentoo Linux]].
In 2009, MySpace began migrating from [[Hard disk drive|HDD]] to [[Solid-state drive|SSD]] technology in some of their servers, resulting in space and power usage savings.<ref name="infoq-ssd">{{cite news|url=http://www.infoq.com/news/2009/12/myspace-ssd|title=MySpace Replaces Storage with Solid-State Drive Technology in 150 Standard Load Servers|work=InfoQ.com|date=December 12, 2009|access-date=December 12, 2009}}</ref>
===Revenue model===
Myspace operates{{When|date=September 2019}} solely on revenues generated by advertising, as its revenue model possesses no user-paid features.<ref>{{cite web |title=Is Myspace free?|url=https://www.myspace.com/Modules/Help/Pages/HelpCenter.aspx?Category=1&Question=33 |publisher=MySpace.com|access-date=March 11, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080822094142/http://www.myspace.com/Modules/Help/Pages/HelpCenter.aspx?Category=1&Question=33|archive-date=August 22, 2008}}</ref> Through its site and affiliated ad networks, the site collects data about its users and utilizes [[behavioral targeting]] to select the ads each visitor sees.<ref>{{cite news|author=Story, Louise and comScore|title=They Know More Than You Think|url=https://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/03/10/technology/20080310_PRIVACY_GRAPHIC.html|format=JPEG|date=March 10, 2008|work=The New York Times|url-access=limited}} in {{cite news|author=Story, Louise|title=To Aim Ads, Web Is Keeping Closer Eye on You|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/technology/10privacy.html|work=The New York Times|date=March 10, 2008|access-date=March 9, 2008|url-access=limited}}</ref>
On August 8, 2006, search engine [[Google]] signed a $900 million deal to provide a search facility and advertising on MySpace.<ref name="BBCNews-GoogleNewsCorp">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5254642.stm|title=Google signs $900m News Corp deal|work=BBC News|date=August 7, 2006|access-date=September 9, 2006}}</ref><ref name="ElReg-GoogleMySpace">{{cite news|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/07/google_wins_myspace/|title=Google pays $900m to monetise children via MySpace|publisher=The Register|last=Vance|first=Ashlee|date=August 7, 2006|access-date=September 9, 2006}}</ref><ref name="GuardianBusiness-GoogleMySpace">{{cite news|url=http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1839333,00.html|title=Google to pay $900m for Myspace link-up|last=Clark|first=Andrew|publisher=Guardian Unlimited Business|date=August 8, 2006|access-date=September 9, 2006|location=London}}</ref>
===Third-party content===
Companies such as Slide.com and [[RockYou]] were all launched on Myspace as widgets providing additional functionality to the site. Other sites created layouts to personalize the site and made hundreds of thousands of dollars for its owners, most of whom were in their late teens and early twenties.<ref name="Forbes-MyspaceEcon">{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/2006/04/07/myspace-google-murdoch-cx_rr_0410myspace.html|title=The Myspace Economy|last=Rosmarin|first=Rachel|work=Forbes|date=October 4, 2006|access-date=October 4, 2006}}</ref><ref name="USAToday-GoogleMyspace">{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/2006-08-13-google-search_x.htm|title=Google search ads find momentum|last=Graham|first=Jefferson|work=USA Today|date=August 14, 2006|access-date=August 14, 2006}}</ref>
In November 2008, MySpace announced that user-uploaded content infringing on copyrights held by [[MTV]] and its subsidiary networks would be redistributed with advertisements to generate revenue for the companies.<ref>{{cite news|last=Wallenstein|first=Andrew|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE4A20P520081103?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews|title=''Reuters'' "MySpace, MTV test piracy-profit plan." Wallenstein, Andrew. Nov.3, 2008|work=Reuters |date=November 3, 2008|access-date=July 24, 2010}}</ref>
===Acquisition of Imeem===
On November 18, 2009, MySpace Music acquired [[Imeem]] for less than $1 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2009/12/08/imeem-myspace-music-completes-acquisition/|publisher=TechCrunch|title=Myspace Music Completes Acquisition of Imeem|date=December 8, 2009}}</ref> MySpace stated that they would be transitioning Imeem's users and migrating their playlists over to MySpace Music. On January 15, 2010, MySpace began restoring Imeem playlists.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rosoff|first=Matt|url= https://www.cnet.com/news/myspace-restores-imeem-playlists/|title=MySpace restores Imeem playlists|publisher=CNET|date=January 16, 2010|access-date=July 24, 2010}}</ref>
==Mobile application==
Along with its website redesign, Myspace also completely redesigned their mobile application. The redesigned app on the [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] [[App Store (iOS/iPadOS)|App Store]] was released in June 2013. The app features a tool for users to create and edit [[gif]] images and post them to their Myspace stream. The app also allows users to stream available "live streams" of concerts. New users are able to join Myspace from the app by signing in with [[Facebook]] or [[Twitter]] or by signing up with email.
===Availability===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
|-
!Location
!Size
!Available
!Price
!Version
!Device requirement
!Last update
|-
| [[App Store (iOS)|App Store]]
| 15.6 [[Megabyte|MB]]
| No
| [[Freeware|Free]]
| 3.6.2
| [[iOS 6|iOS 6.1]] or greater
| February 8, 2014
|-
|[[Google Play]]
| 16 [[Megabyte|MB]]
| No
| [[Freeware|Free]]
| 3.1.0
| [[Android version history#Android 4.1 Jelly Bean .28API level 16.29|Android 4.1 or greater]]
| April 17, 2015
|}
The Myspace mobile app is no longer available on the [[Google Play|Google Play Store]] or the [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] [[App Store (iOS/iPadOS)|App Store]]. The mobile web app can be accessed by visiting Myspace.com from a mobile device.
===Radio===
The app allows users to play Myspace radio channels from the device. Users can select from genre stations, featured stations and user or artist stations. A user can build their own station by connecting and listening to songs on Myspace's desktop website. The user is given six skips per station.
==See also==
{{Portal|Greater Los Angeles|Companies|Internet}}
{{Main category|Myspace}}
* ''[[Christou v. Beatport, LLC]]'', a US federal district court case which held that Myspace profiles could be held as trade secrets
* [[Criticism of Myspace]]
* ''[[Doe v. MySpace Inc.]]'', a court case that held that Myspace was immune from liability resulting from a sexual assault of a minor.
* gOS 2.9 "Space" – [[Linux]] distribution geared toward Myspace users, see [[gOS (operating system)]]
* [[List of Internet phenomena]]
* [[List of social networking websites]]
* [[Myspace IM]]
* ''[[The MySpace Movie]]''
*[[Spacehey|SpaceHey]], a Myspace revival
* [[MySpace Records]]
* [[Social software]]
* [[SodaHead.com]]
* [[Vine (service)]]
* [[Web 2.0 Suicide Machine]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
<!-- No longer referenced: # {{note|samy}} ''[[Slashdot]]'', October 14, 2005. http://www.itsproducts.com . Retrieved December 29, 2005.-->
<!-- No longer referenced: # {{note|capital}} ''[[The Capital]]'', January 1, 2006. "[http://www.capitalonline.com/cgi-bin/read/2006/01_01-59/TOP Web site gives raw look into the lives of area teenagers]". Retrieved January 24, 2006.-->
<!-- No longer referenced: # {{note|boston}} ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', December 8, 2005. "[https://www.boston.com/business/personaltech/articles/2005/12/08/websites_power_to_overexpose_teens_stirs_a_warning/ Website's power to overexpose teens stirs a warning]''. Retrieved January 24, 2006.-->
<!-- No longer referenced: # {{note|ABC}} [[ABC News]], ''World News Tonight'', March 28, 2006. "[https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Politics/story?id=1778011&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312 Religious Conservatives Gather to Discuss 'War Against Christians']." Retrieved March 30, 2006. -->
<!-- No longer referenced: # {{note|stalking}} ''Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture'', September 9, 2002. "[http://www.albany.edu/scj/jcjpc/vol9is3/spitzberg.html The Media Construction of Stalking Stereotypes]". Retrieved March 23, 2006.-->
<!-- No longer referenced: # {{note|stalking}} ''Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture'', September 9, 2002. "[http://mjltk.com/facebook/ The Media Construction of Stalking Stereotypes]". Retrieved March 23, 2006.-->
==Further reading==
* Angwin, Julia. 2009. ''[https://archive.org/details/stealingmyspaceb00angw Stealing MySpace: The Battle to Control the Most Popular Website in America]'', New York: Random House. {{ISBN|978-1-4000-6694-0}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Davis |first=Donald Carrington |title=Myspace Isn't Your Space: Expanding the Fair Credit Reporting Act to Ensure Accountability and Fairness in Employer Searches of Online Social Networking Services |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228185935 |volume=16 |journal=Kan. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y |issue=237 |date=May 2010 |doi=10.2139/ssrn.1601471|s2cid=166271279 }}
* Dodero, Camille, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070104191303/http://www.thephoenix.com/article_ektid30132.aspx "You and your tech-chic: As of 2006, new media isn't just for geeks anymore"], ''Boston Phoenix'', December 20, 2006.
* [[Don Tapscott|Tapscott, Don]] and Anthony D. Williams. 2007. ''Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything''. New York: Penguin.
==External links==
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{{Commons category|Myspace}}
* {{Official website}}
{{Online social networking|state}}
{{Social networking|state}}
{{Authority control}}
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